It's OK.

Thank you to https://www.facebook.com/perfectionisnotrequired for this post.  Perfection is Not Required.

It is ok.  I love all of the ways it is ok that we often do not think it is ok to be. Society has told us we 'should' be certain ways. Perfect is the bottom line. For women and now for men, be the provider, keep up the home, cook clean, take care of yard.  Keep up those "keeping up with the Jones" standards.  My yard is a mixture of garden, wild flowers and some grass with lots of weeds, oregano and dandelions growing. I learned to mulch around things rather than get a weed whip that removes the grass from around things... some of it just stays. Life is too short to worry about odd blades of grass growing next to a pole. I have some beautiful Queen Ann's Lace growing  on it's own, some ornamental stuff, that is a whitish/grayish/sagey color... some Lambs Ear for the seeds for the birds and in case.  Lots of Flox came up this year, not sure why because they are a different color than those I planted. Some little yellow daisy looking flower also. They spread but are pretty and come back year after year. That is my goal. Flowers for beauty and returning by themselves for me.

Thank you Vybe Source for this post. It is  hard being a survivor and feeling worthy.  I am slowly, now at the age of 70, feeling maybe I am a little bit. Like I said, it takes time to work through healing and become the you meant to be. 

To help you to be more the you that you are meant to be you  have to find you first.  The above post is very good advice. I will be heading out to do just that soon. Find peace in the garden/yard. Listen to the wind blow through the trees. 

I don't think any of us appreciate on the level we could be on how we are blessed. I am going to try and keep that forefront in my mind today.  Have a beautiful and blessed day! 

 

Surrender and Faith.

Both seem difficult in today's world. No one wants to surrender and few have faith it seems. At least not in what will be. It is a hard one giving up control. 

Still on surrender and faith. It is also about what life throws at you and how you deal with it. 

Today at church service the sermon was on silence. Making sure we make it happen at least 15 minutes a day to listen to what God has to say to us. It takes practice to listen. It takes persistence to create 15 minutes (or longer) a day for silence. Do you have a space where you can go and have 15 minutes of silence each day to listen for what God tell you? It is the way we will get to know His word and what He wants from us.

If we life a life that others do understand, are we living our life true to ourselves? Or what others want? Today is a day to look at questions, listen to silence and seek our own answers.

  

Good Morning.

 It is cloudy, looks like rain, very humid and the sun just peeked through the clouds. I believe it is going to be one of those days where you think... It is going to rain. And it won't. At least that is what I am hoping as I am heading out to finish up splitting the wood next. 

A big thank you to Patricia Burke for the photo she let me have to make this post.  

I believe what it says to be true. I believe that if you have a strong enough belief in yourself you can do anything you want. There are lots of people out there with natural talent, who also may or may not believe in themselves. No belief and that talent may go to waste.  But if you believe, only you can stop you.

My daughter tried to convince me last night I didn't have to hurt my body just to get the wood done.  I have this drive that says, must get it done, must get it done. Unfortunately it only says that for certain things, not all the time. Probably good or I would be in serious hurt considering how much abuse I give my body trying to do more than I should. Other times I almost have to force myself to do something... especially when it comes to inside things. Dusting is one. But there is really no sense of accomplishment with dusting like there is with cutting/splitting/stacking wood for the winter. The back part of the house is heated with wood. I know that pile I have just gotten done will help keep me warm for the entire winter. I dust? The next day you probably couldn't tell I did.  

I used to work for 3 Jewish families when I lived in Paris. I shopped, ran errands, cleaned and whatever else they needed done. I learned a lot about a kosher home. I also learned about cleaning an entire home before Passover. I tried after coming back to the US to apply that here, just to know the entire house was cleaned thoroughly within the last year, but honestly? I have too much stuff/clutter. Most of the house gets cleaned at least once well during the year, including windows. I am just not going to do more than I must during spring/summer/fall because I am then outside with garden, lawn and, of course, doing wood. Winter I do more of those projects that have waited, maybe for longer than they should have. Especially big projects, like the 2 winters it took me to finally sort out all of the family photos going back into the late 1800's until 2010 when everything pretty much went digital for me. But, I digress. 

 But what a wonderful way to think of all of our past loved ones, but as shining stars. Perhaps my family will think of me as one when I am gone. Speaking of stars, here is another post that resonates with me today.

And... 

on that note, will leave you with that thought!

Have a great day, regardless of the weather.

 Yesterday!

 Had a great time with my daughter yesterday at the fair.  We walked, talked, laughed, looked at and petted animals, ate, played bulldozer and generally enjoyed our day doing it together. It was the first day this summer doing something fun with her, usually it is just work.

Are you taking time to do any fun things with someone you love this summer?  Or just a good friend? 

Thanks to Simple Moments for this post. It is one to be grateful for.

I posted this on Smoothing today, kind of a tongue in cheek for what Meta/FB is now doing to my page.  Stats are still way down and I got a message from a viewer today that said "so when I liked your page it popped up fact checker nonsense warning that this page repeatedly posted false blah blah blah, just letting you know that I already like this page more now.. that is all!"

I certainly appreciated him telling me he still likes the  page!  Why worry about a positive healing loving page posting something that may be false? Most likely any of the posts could be false to someone. We have different feelings about the same post because we are all coming from different places in our lives.  Stop the pettiness and go after the spammers and those who are hurting others. 

With school starting soon, this is a biggie.  It begins again for so many, while it also continues during the summer and all year with social media. 

A thank you to Lessons Learned in Life.com for the above post. It is very true. It really is now or never but we never know when that time will come! May our actions not cause others pain.

May you have a great Friday!  Take some time out for you, you deserve it!

You definitely don't have to sit on it!

It is also why I try and do mostly positive posts.  I am often surprised by how hard it is to find any good ones some days. Being negative is easier for some, and a really nasty habit to get into.  It seems when the negativity comes out, it just multiplies and continues. It is why we need to be positive. Positivity brings positive vibes but it is very difficult to be positive around negative people. Those who seem to be always positive are a gift. I read that if we start with just 3 positive thoughts, slowly increasing them, that at the end of 2 weeks we have a new way of thinking. I tried that, it did work to a point, and then the negativity crept back in.  So, back on the positive track.  Some days it doesn't leave a lot to talk about!!  

 Off to the fair with my daughter for the day!!  A day to do what makes my soul happy. 

Are you a builder?

Thanks to Heal With Blair for that post.  

I have learned I enjoy creating more than just crafts.  Myself for one, things with wood for another. Where the house is concerned, I enjoy more the ripping apart than the putting together.  Outside the house, just the opposite. 

We all need humor in our lives, even if it has a bit of truth in it. 

This was a post I posted earlier in the week on Smoothing. It felt like the right day to post it here. I know I have said at times, well, that was a waste of my time to do ......  But was it? Did I learn anything? Not something I thought about at the time. Now perhaps I will.  I often see posts and try and apply them to my life when I want to grow.  I have those that apply to my past, my present and then there are those that I want to apply to my every day. Often they just reside in my brain for a short time until I see them again, but, sometimes they stick.  I also post post because if they apply to me somehow, I know they will apply to someone else out there. One of the biggest things I have learned is everyone needs to know they are NOT alone.  We feel like, no one else every felt that, thought that, experienced that... but they have. And they need to know that.

Being Happy

That is so well said.  Too many of us forget that fact, because we are sure that we know what is best for others.  We do not. Quite a bit of the time we don't even know what is best for us, or how to make ourselves happy. 

Me? I am off again to cut wood and get it ready for this winter. That is one thing that makes me happy. Cutting, splitting and stacking wood. It gives me a strong sense of satisfaction that cleaning house does not do. So, if you come over to my home, be prepared for neat wood piles but not a clean house!!   

Have a productive Tuesday and enjoy yourself sometime during this day.